


Anywhere

by redhead evans (thebabytiger)



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Fluff, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-07-26
Updated: 2006-07-26
Packaged: 2017-11-19 18:48:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,239
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/576487
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thebabytiger/pseuds/redhead%20evans
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Minerva needs some time alone with her husband.... badly.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Anywhere

Minerva McGonagall stalked down the hallway, furious with the Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Classes had ended recently; she had finished righting the transfiguration attempts of her students and had put the test subjects away before starting the long-ish trek to the Headmaster's office. She had only been in there roughly five minutes before coming out again, her cheerful mood having vanished while inside and her horrible mood growing worse as she walked. The students that still lingered in the halls, most on their way to the Library or the dorms, scrambled to get out of the way of the irate Professor before she went Snape's way and docked points right and left.

She had an animagus form, one of the few to do so in history, which reflected her personality in some form. However, those looking at her now wouldn't see the plain tabby cat that was her other form but some predatory cat, complete with her tail lashing from side to side. The similarity only grew as she replayed the meeting over and over in her head, not intentionally of course. 'It must be… the greater good… I know what's best… the Order's responsibility… It wouldn't do… improper… the final battle… Hogwarts needs us…'

She wasn't one to show weakness of any kind, not if she could help it (which she normally could), but she was finding it hard to hide her sheer exhaustion from herself let alone everyone else. She needed a break, badly, from the stress of teaching and Order espionage. What made that worse was that she needed time with her husband just to lie out on the beach and cuddle next to a fire or to make love in a random hotel room halfway across the world. But Albus wouldn't leave with her; Hogwarts couldn't afford to have both Heads gone in such a time of need. Filius could fill in but Albus was of the opinion that the school needed them, the Order needed them, regardless of the fact that they could be back in two seconds if need arose. In fact, the raised voices and slammed door was only a sign that she was tired; her quick-to-surface temper never surfaced because of something Albus did.

She paused her storming of the castle long enough to choke out the password to her rooms; the portrait opened quickly and she was inside, shut away from everyone and free to let tears fall unhindered down her face.

The sound of a slammed door was still echoing around the room when the Headmaster came to a sudden realization. His wife needed a break, quite badly by the looks of it. He had been so involved in the war that he had stopped paying any attention to the one thing he needed the most out of all. His argument wasn't just empty words, it held weight, but her point was true as well. He tried to think back to the last time they had had a free, calm, and unstressful moment to themselves as a couple, not just colleagues. During the day they were good friends, nothing more, and that fact had been the most significant strain on the early years of their marriage. It had been hard for them both to adjust to not being able to show the love they had for each other whenever they felt like it. The only real time they had to them selves was at night but most of the time they were both too tired to do anything aside from kiss and fall asleep. Minerva was right, they need a break or their whole marriage could crumble from neglect. So he did the only thing a smart man would do; he chased after her.

It wasn't hard to decide where to look; there were really only two places Minerva McGonagall would feel safe and shut away, her rooms and his arms. He ruefully checked the second off his list and started down the hall to the first.

When they had first been married they had already been Professors and Hogwarts herself had provided them with a way of being alone together with out fear of being discovered. One long passageway connected his walk-in closet to her full-length mirror, each tucked far, far away from any prying hands. Set dead center in the passage was a set of rooms, big enough for two with a spacious king-sized bed. They had quickly erected wards to alert them if someone knocked on their door and had moved all of their most personal belongings to their joint rooms, leaving other knick-knacks in their separate quarters in case anyone was ever in a position to notice the suspicious lack of personalization. Every morning they got dressed together before parting ways, Albus back out his office and towards Minerva's rooms to escort her to breakfast and Minerva back to her room to pin up her long ebony tresses in her signature bun before covering her hair beneath her hat and slipping on her shoes just in time to answer the knock on her door and slip into Albus' arms. No one thought anything of the gentlemanly Headmaster escorting his best friend and Deputy to meals any more than they did of the way they seemed to know what each other wanted, having simply passed it off as being old friends. Whenever she would get upset, unable to flee into her husband's embrace, she would run to her room, feeling no comfort of the shared suite without its other occupant.

He swept down the corridors that she had so recently fled down, his robes billowing behind him as once again people scrambled to get out of his way while staring at him with interest. He knocked once on the portrait before giving the password and entering, passing through her sitting room to her bedroom. She had removed her hat and shoes as well as the pins from her hair, most likely with magic, and had placed them all neatly in their proper places for the morning. She was now sprawled face down on her bed, waist long hair spread all over the pillow, crying quietly. He took his own hat and shoes off, banishing them next to hers, and sat down on the corner of the bed, pulling her gently onto his lap and offering her his shoulder to use as a pillow. She stiffened before relaxing again into his soothing embrace and continuing to cry, soaking his robes in moments. When the water works stopped he started to talk about what had gone on in his office, and the solution he had come to after she had left. With the skill of the 50 years of marriage he quickly had everything settled between the two of them and was off to find Filius while she packed for the both of them. Filius, one of the five people who knew about their marriage, quickly agreed to take charge with Pomona Sprout as his Deputy for the moment while the Dumbledores took a much needed vacation.

Two hours later found them lying on a secluded beach at sunset on a private and unplottable island. Remembering her desperate wishes from earlier that day she smiled and reached up to kiss him, happy to feel him deepen the kiss almost immediately as he pulled her on top of him in the sand, completely at peace.


End file.
